it's certainly not the first time. >> nelson, nelson! nelson! >> reporter: in 1995 at the rugby world championship, the moment so powerful, they made a movie out of it. >> i want to thank you for what you have done for our country. >> reporter: invictus tells the story of when mandela simply put on a rugby jersey and suddenly, unexpectedly, united this nation. fracois piennar who captained that spring bok team. >> when he walked into the dressing room wearing a springbok on his heart, it was just wow! >> reporter: for black south africans, the spring bok symbolized all that was evil about the racist system of apartheid. blacks played soccer. whites rugby. the rough nature of the sport, a metaphor for the brutish reality of apartheid. the list of daily indignities ran long and cut deep. in a country 80% black, whites by law owned 90% of the land. schools were segregated. inter racial marriages forbidden. >> what was the like being a black boy in south africa? >> it was terrible. >> reporter: 42 year old charlie masala remembers. we met tonight ou